Understanding how they are formed, and how they manifest in our adult relationships, is vitally important if you want to grow as a person and in your relationships. We’re hardwired to idolize them for the first few years of life because we have to rely on them for every aspect of our survival. That’s why we may blame ourselves rather than them for some of our disappointments or for problems in the family that actually have little to do with us. It can be hard on our self-worth. Not all parents realize that just being physically present isn’t enough, although it’s a fine start. Love is essentially a form of focused and generous presence—a special kind of authentic engagement. Love is the highest-quality presence of the heart and it’s a gift that builds self-esteem. When someone in your childhood consistently indicates that you are worthy and good enough just the way you are, this becomes a part of your reality as your sense of identity develops. While being physically present as much as you are able is important in parenting, it isn’t enough without emotional presence, engagement, and an interested connection. Low self-worth early in life can lead to inadvertently choosing paths that erode our self-worth even further as we get older. Inexperience combined with intense need is a volatile cocktail. Seeking love yet not having reliable indicators of what it feels like to be loved well makes you vulnerable to quick-and-dirty fixes of love that end up making things worse. For example, some seek love vehemently, then run when it’s returned or becomes intense because it feels dangerous to let someone get too close. Insecure or ambivalent attachment styles lend themselves to self-defeating patterns of trying to love while defending a heart that feels vulnerable. Alternatively, the consistent affirmation of your innate worthiness to be seen and heard serves as a platform on which to build your emerging impression of yourself. Unfortunately, many people don’t receive sufficient or consistent engagement to help them feel acceptable and worthy in themselves as they reach adolescence and beyond. But regardless of the gifts you receive—or don’t—from caregivers, eventually you have to take on the care of your own heart and soul and determine what might need a bit of work. We don’t always know our passions until we find ourselves doing them and realize we’re totally in our element. If you’re hard on yourself, ask yourself whether you’d speak to someone else that way. Would it help a child to grow in self-esteem if you spoke to them the way you speak to yourself in your head? If not, think about giving yourself the same level of kindness and compassion you’d give another because feeling ashamed and criticized, for whatever reason, is awful. It’s about assessing the depths and locations of the scars in your inner landscape so you don’t keep falling into those same patterns for the rest of your life. Changing your attachment style is not easy, but it’s not impossible. These five tips above are a few ways to help get you started loving more securely. Additionally, a therapist or other professional can also help identify the underlying issues of your attachment style and give you the necessary tools to help you be more secure in relationships.
